Cider from Lehigh Valley orchards can boost the flavor of foods

Brenda and David Rusinko of Bethlehem, their daughter and son-in-law and three grandchildren peer through a glass door to watch apples being pressed into cider at Wehr's Fruit Stand and Farm during the Lehigh County Open Gate Farm Tour.

"This is all part of our family tradition," says Rusinko, as he steps aside so other visitors can see the cider mill turning out five gallons of preservative-free, unpasteurized cider every three minutes.

At two other stops on the tour — Byler's Farm in Slatington and Pappy's Orchard and Lisa's Kitchen near Coopersburg — visitors see demonstrations of old-fashioned cider-making, by hand, using small wooden presses.

No matter how the apples are crushed, cider is as much a part of Pennsylvania's autumn as changing leaves and pumpkin patches.

This liquid gold is even more golden this year because of its selling price — averaging $6 a gallon, or about $1 more per gallon than last year. It takes a bushel of apples to make three and a half to four gallons of cider during peak season when apples are at their juiciest.

"It's a crazy year for prices because major producers like Michigan and New York were hit by a late cold spell in April," says Rich Rowe of Bechdolt's Orchard, Hellertown.

"Michigan lost 90 percent of its apples; New York lost 50 percent. We lost about 30 percent of our apples too," says Rowe.

Growers in Adams County, Pennsylvania's biggest area for apple production, also were hit, according to Joshua Smith, marketing manager for Frecon Farms of Boyertown. But Smith reports Frecon is having a great apple harvest, with plenty of apples for both cider and hard cider. In fact, Frecon will double its hard cider production, to nearly 10,000 bottles in 2013.

Higher prices haven't stopped cider fans from buying this fall favorite. Rowe says, "We're even thinking about buying our own cider press" rather than trucking apples to Bauman's Family Fruit Butters in Sassamansville, Montgomery County, where many area apple growers have their apples turned into flash-pasteurized cider.

Elmer Wehr, who bought his cider press more than 30 years ago, is one of the rare local farmers still making unpasteurized, preservative-free cider, which is sold only at his farm store along Route 309 in Orefield. "The demand for our cider has been growing. People say it's the taste that sells them on it and brings them back," he says.

Apple growers who want to sell cider beyond their farms must have their cider pasteurized because of state laws passed more than a decade ago.

Wehr, who ran 75 bushels of apples through his cider press during the recent four-hour open gate tour, poured more than 10 gallons for cider samples during the event.

"The more varieties I have, the better," says Rowe, who uses six or seven types for each batch of cider. The taste varies through the season, he explains, as different apples become available. Naturally, the taste varies in every batch.

The taste of Frecon's cider is also constantly evolving, according to Smith. "It starts out a little sweeter at the start of the season and tails off to sweet/tart at the end of the season. Although we change apples, depending on what's coming in, galas are always in our mix."

The blending process used by Michael Urffer at Pappy's Orchard and Lisa's Kitchen is more of a mystery. Lisa Urffer says, "My husband tries to keep our cider's taste consistent through the season, which makes selecting the right apples an art which I don't understand. We've come to an agreement: I've stopped asking him to explain his methods and he doesn't ask me how I bake my cakes."

The fresh cider season usually runs from late August or early September through December or January. Depending on a grower's supply of apples in storage, it can last into February.